Some time ago, when we posted about uses we had improvised for binder clips, we got a rash of reader responses telling their improvisations with the ubiquitous tool that just keeps on providing solutions to life’s little problems. Check out Treehugger‘s recent 16 Clever Uses for Binder Clips (we love ’em in Steel). Here are…
Read Morepamela’s brilliant d-i-y wrist warmers
Designer and contributor-of-brilliant-ideas Pamela Hovland recently improvised wonderful wrist-warmers out of an old pair of wool socks. Here’s how this inspired bit of repurposing came about, in her own words and photos: “I often wear wrist warmers while I’m working away at my computer as my hands are cold from the fall to the spring.…
Read Morethe safety pin (and other everyday objects) as improvisation
Every great invention, from the Murphy bed to the bicycle, started as an improvisation: an elegant solution to something someone needed or just plain wanted. But an improvisation never stops there. The improvised invention gets improvised upon, and that improvisation gets improvised upon, and so on, and so on. Viewing the everyday objects around us…
Read Morea mantle as furniture (no hearth)
Many years ago, I bought an amazing yellow mantle, salvaged from an old house in Maine, to surround the fireplace in an apartment I thought I’d live in forever. Then things changed (life’s operating principle) and I had to leave that beautiful space, and make a new home amidst the the harsh realities of…
Read Morenecklace as plug chain
Here’s simple, pretty solution to those ugly generic plug chains. There’s infinite possibilities for stringing beads (waterproof) or using other materials like waxed string,which often comes in beautiful colors. (The friend that sent this to me didn’t remember where she found it. So we’re unable, yet, to give credit.)
Read Morediy patchwork headboard
I love the idea of this patchwork headboard from Lockwood Design. There are endless possibilities for combining cool fabrics and textures and it’s definitely a do-able project. I can imagine using all sorts of vintage fabrics, which can be found at flea markets and on Ebay. Or buying 1/2 yard of several fabrics from…
Read Morecopy this: wood block toothbrush holder
Cut a length from a block of some nice looking hard wood… Bore holes in the end (big enough to hold toothbrushes) with a thick drill bit… Sand if necessary. Or, just buy them in oak at the wonderful Bailey’s Home and Garden.
Read Morealt candleholders
You’re camping in a borrowed summer house and have candles but no holders.Or you’re just tired of your usual candle holders. A photo of pencil candles in a galvanized bucked of sand, seen at Dee Puddy, a U.K. garden and interiors store, provides a great gist of a solution for improvising on.
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